Rekindle

Disclaimer: All Battlestar Galactica characters and places belong to Moore, Larson and Universal and are used without permission.
Pairing: Laura/Adama
Rating: Teen (damned MPAA!)
Spoilers: The Hand of God. This takes place a few hours after the episode.
A/N: Obviously, I'm gearing up to something by posting these three in such rapid succession. I've been spoiled for the last 3 episodes of season one, so I've been purposely framing these stories knowing what's going to come. I wanted to get these three done before "Colonial Day" so that I can get the post-"Colonial Day" story posted prior to the season finale.


It had been much too long since the 45,000+ human refugees of the Twelve Colonies of Kobol had had reason to celebrate, so the successful, against-all-odds raid on the Cylon fuel base sparked a party as soon as Galactica had rejoined the rest of the fleet. For the President and Commander, the jubilation was interrupted only by a press conference to relay some of the details of the raid to the fleet and outline the fuel refinery and distribution plans. Once the conference was over, the reporters had left Roslin and Adama to go get stories from the pilots and other crew involved in the operation.

Before Adama could leave Colonial One, the President stopped him.

"I didn't get a chance to say congratulations," she told him warmly as he led him back into her private rooms.

"Thank you, Madame President," he returned, his voice cordial.

She turned and leveled him with a long look. "Old habits? Need to know?"

He sighed. He'd known this was coming.

"Don't do that," she snapped unexpectedly.

His eyes narrowed and his rancor rose quickly, as it always did with this woman.

"Don't give that irritated little sigh like you know what I'm about to say."

"Then if you have something to say, say it," he spit out. "I'd like to get back to my crew."

"Fine. We're even."

"Even?"

"Yes, you got your little revenge by keeping me in the dark about the back door," she said, the anger at least, was seeping out of her voice. "I get it. I didn't trust you, so you didn't trust me."

"I'm not playing adolescent get-back-at-you games –"

"Aren't you?" She sighed and held up her hands to forestall any further argument from him. "Can we just –" She frowned and shook her head.

"Just what?" he asked gruffly.

She dropped her hands to her sides and looked at him. "You're not a Cylon. I'm not a Cylon. The fleet needs us both. They deserve better than what we've been giving them recently. Can we just dispense with the bullshit so that we can do better for them?"

He looked at her, really looked at her. He could see the overwhelming exhaustion that seemed to be seeping out of her pores. But he could also see her sincerity. Adama sighed and folded his hands behind his back. The games they played with each other were also weighing on him. There were enough problems to deal with without adding the manufactured ones to the top of the pile.

"Alright, Madame President," he began slowly. "No more bullshit." He reached out his hand.

"Thank you," she breathed and took his hand in a firm shake. After a moment, she gave him a warm smile that made his heart thump. "You did good today."

He nodded and averted his eyes, hoping that she wouldn't see how something as simple as her smile affected him.

"Everyone did good today," he amended.

The President continued to smile at him. "Bill, can't you just take the compliment and say thank you?" Her voice was teasing and light and he wondered when they had slipped into using each other's first names on a regular basis.

"Thank you," he returned softly.

"See? That was easy."

He smiled at her. "You're teasing me."

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because it's fun."

"Fun?"

"Mm-hmm. I do like to have fun, Commander."

"Doing what?"

"Oh, lots of things, like cooking and sailing and skiing." Her eyes sparkled with green mischief. "Oh, and sex is extraordinarily fun."

How one could choke on saliva when their mouth was instantly, totally dry was beyond him but that's exactly what Commander Adama did.

"Are you alright?" the President asked him sweetly.

"You're still teasing," he growled.

But she shook her head. "Oh, no." She leaned in and tapped the underside if his chin with her finger. "Now, I'm flirting. It's a completely different thing."

"How do you do that?" he asked with a laugh.

"Do what?"

"Make me go from wanting to shoot you to wanting to –" Bend you over the table, his mind supplied.

Laura grinned. "Wanting to … what, Commander?"

He looked at her for a long, long moment. It would be so easy and she was so tempting. They'd talked about their timing being horrible. Right now, they were together, they were alone and everyone was too distracted to notice their absence. It would be so easy just to take her up into his arms and do what to her what he wanted to do to her even at the height of his anger. It would be so easy to bathe himself in flowers…

But the timing still wasn't right. Not for him. To do this now, on the heels of everything that had just happened … it would seem like they were using sex to hide the fact that they still didn't completely trust each other. Adama wasn't such a sentimentalist that he couldn't frak a woman he didn't trust, but he didn't want to do that with this woman. Something in him still desired her unconditional confidence more than he desired her body. And he wanted to trust her but he couldn't. Not completely. Not at this moment.

The commander sighed and held out his arm. She looked confused but took it anyway.

"May I escort you back to the party?" he said easily.

She blinked at him before she frowned and pulled her arm back. "I thought we were through with the games?" Her voice was chilly and Adama had to admit that a part of him found delight in the fact that she sounded as hurt as he had felt when she'd rejected him last week.

Still, at least wanted her to know that this wasn't an outright rejection, that the door was still open. He was just calling for a bit more caution.

Sometimes words weren't adequate enough to convey a feeling or a doubt, so he allowed them both one indulgence; hoping his newfound resolve was enough to keep things in check.

Before she could work herself fully into her temper, Adama pulled her to him, his hand rising to become lost in her hair, while his other arm stole around her back.

Her startled gasp parted her lips and he took advantage of it, capturing her mouth with his and claiming new territory with his tongue. He had once thought that when they finally came together, it would be a battle of sorts. He'd never wanted a woman with a will as strong as hers. But if there was a battle here, she quickly capitulated as she seemed to melt into his arms. Her mouth parted wider and she drew him in with her tongue stroking along his, with her arms wound around his shoulder and back, with the press of her hips against his.

Too late he realized his mistake; far from capitulation, her weapons were decimating his willpower with expert precision and Adama knew that he had to stop this now before he ended up on his back with her spectacular legs wrapped around his waist.

With a moan – and a final long taste of her mouth – Adama gently pulled away. He looked down at her and was struck by her beauty; the flush of her cheeks and her moist lips. He was momentarily spellbound. He had to close his eyes to the sight to obtain the will to take a crucial step away from her.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself captured in her gaze. He tried to convey everything he was feeling right now. He wanted her – Lords, did he want her – but now wanting wasn't enough. He needed more.

"Do you understand?" he managed to ask.

She licked her lips and nodded, still holding his eyes. "I'm sorry –"

"Don't be," he told her, taking her hand.

Again, she nodded. They stared at each other before she squeezed his hand and slid her hand up to his elbow.

"Would you escort me back to the party, Commander Adama?"

Folding her hand into his, he smiled. "It would be my pleasure, Madame President."

End. Until "Colonial Day"